“No one at the agency would tip off the Marshals?”

Albert smirked. He shoved his thumbs into the wide belt loops of his jeans. Then he rocked back on his heels as he gazed at his son with an amused gleam in his eye.

“Would you if it was the other way around?”

Dante smiled.

“No, I guess I wouldn’t.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled, I’ll let you know what I find out.”

“Fair enough.” Dante surveyed the barn.

“Let’s get this leak patched. Climb the ladder up to the rafters. Let me get the work gloves.”

Dante walked to the ladder his father gestured to and climbed hand over hand to the loft. He surveyed the roof. He couldn’t see any obvious damage, but he knew almost nothing about handiwork. The loft area had a couple of stray bales of old hay, but there wasn’t much up there now.

Albert joined him in the loft with the work gloves and tool belts. They strapped on the belts, put on the gloves, and went in search of the leak. Albert surveyed the far side of the wall, but they realized the leak came from the roof, at a point right above the wall. They spent the better part of the day up on the roof, replacing the metal sheet that was the problem.

From the roof top, Dante could see Laurie out back with his mother. Both of them were crouching over a vegetable. Her gold hair was down, blowing around in the crisp wind that kept him cool in the midday sun. Her beauty overwhelmed him. She was all warm sunshine. Whenever he touched her skin, it was like fire in his hands. He never wanted to be with someone as much as he wanted to spend every second with Laurie.

“Son?” Albert said sharply. “What is it? What do you see?”

“Huh?” Dante jumped. “Oh, nothing. Thought I saw an animal, a deer. That’s all.”

Their job finished, Dante followed his father back to the ladder. When they reached the ground, they walked back to the house where they met the women bringing in some baskets of vegetables. Laurie was breathless as she jogged up to him with a heavy basket. Her eyes were wide and they sparkled with excitement as she gave him the biggest grin he’d ever seen.

“Dante! Look!” Laurie walked backward in front of him toward the house, holding an oddly shaped tomato up like a trophy. “Have you ever seen a tomato that looks like that before? It’s a German striped tomato. Isn’t it amazing?”

Dante smiled, looking at the tomato she handed him. It curled in upon itself, with bubbly lobes on each side and an irregular scalloping to its juicy flesh. It wasn’t just red, but also green, yellow, and a hint of orange. There was a seam running around part of its edges, which had split and mended itself. To Dante, it didn’t look amazing or appetizing. It looked like a Frankenstein tomato, but his smile deepened. He handed it back to her.

Laurie waited for his response, looking for a monumental reaction to seeing the Frankenstein tomato.

“It’s really something.” He reached for her basket. “Want me to take that?”

She shifted her basket to her other hip.

“Oh, no, it’s not heavy. Look at these. These things with this papery stuff on them. They’re tomatillos. Have you ever seen them before? Or this? This is okra.” Laurie showed him everything she had collected like an excited child. Dante fought to control his laughter.

“No. I’ve never seen either of them before. Let’s go in for lunch, okay?” He put his hand on her shoulder to lead her inside.

“These, well these are just green beans, but they’re fresh. They have this fuzz on them like peaches.” Laurie talked a mile a minute. They entered the kitchen to find his mother slicing fresh bread. His father had disappeared into another room.

“These are Japanese eggplants. I’ve never seen these before either. I’ve only seen the big eggplants you get in the grocery store, you know? Emma showed me how to pull up potatoes right out of the ground. Have you ever done that before?”

“No, I haven’t.” He let out a little chuckle before he could gain control of himself.

Laurie barely noticed as she turned her face down to gaze at the vegetables, trying to decide if she had anything else remarkable to show him.

“Laurie, honey, why don’t you put all of those good vegetables in the pantry. They’ll be nice and cool in there until we can use them.” Emma pulled plates out of the cabinets.

“Oh, okay.” Laurie hurried away with her basket to the small doorway beside the refrigerator.

Dante grinned at his mother, raising his eyebrows. She returned the gesture. Dante let out the laughter he’d been denying. He never would have guessed farm life would suit Laurie so well.

“Can I help you, Emma?” Laurie bounced back into the kitchen.

“Why don’t you pour everyone some water? The men have been up on the roof all morning.” Emma busied herself with lunch.

Dante leaned against the counter. He smiled, watching Laurie pour water for him from the jug in the refrigerator. She went to hand him the glass and paused.

“What?” she asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” His smile turned into a grin.

“Like that. Like I missed a joke or something. What is it?” She folded her arms, taking his water hostage. He cocked his head to the side.

“I’ve never seen you so enthusiastic.” He reached for his water.

“I shouldn’t be?” She stepped out of reach.

“No, no. It’s nice. I didn’t expect you would get so into gardening in one morning.” Dante plucked the water out of her hands. He fought the urge to kiss her. He wanted nothing more than to take advantage of the flushed cheeks and red lips the cold, fresh air had given her.

“Well, it was exciting. Emma and I had a very nice morning, didn’t we?” Laurie walked to the kitchen table. He almost followed her, but his mother distracted him.

“Where’s your father?” Emma glanced at him over her shoulder.

“Don’t know. Thought he came in with you. Want me to find him?” He shrugged.

“Yes, please. Tell him lunch is ready.” Emma busied herself in the refrigerator.

Dante walked toward the front of the house, but didn’t see him in any of the downstairs rooms. He went upstairs. He heard a barely audible whisper coming from his parents’ room. He looked through the old key lock, and saw his father talking on a cell phone. Dante had a pretty good idea what the call was about. His father hung up the phone. Dante knocked on the door.

“Dad? Are you in there?” He asked, more for his mother’s hearing than anything else.

“Be right down.” A muffled thump emanated from behind the closed door.

“Okay.” Dante was halfway down the stairs. His father wasn’t too far behind him.

“Where did you disappear to?” Emma whirled on him, butter knife in hand.

“I changed. Stained my shirt. You’re always yelling at me for it, so I went ahead and soaked it.” Albert’s jaw hardened as he cocked his head at her.

Dante turned and Albert did, in fact, have on a different shirt. He found himself wondering if there was a real stain or not. He figured he would just rather not know. If his father lied to his mother, then he did it for Laurie and himself.

“You finally listened to me. Our son has to come home for you to finally listen to me.” Emma shook her head in wonder as she picked up and carried Albert’s plate to the table.

“Well, I thought you’d be happy. If that’s the thanks I get, I just won’t do it all next time.” Albert sat down at the table with a frown.

“Then I guess you won’t have any shirts left, because I’m not helping you buy more any time soon.” Emma plunked his lunch down on the table with a pointed look.

“I don’t need your help to buy a shirt.” Albert shook his head, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“No, of course not. You’ll come home with a dozen shirts that are either too small or too big. Then you’ll ask me to take them back because you didn’t try them on in the dressing room.” Emma sat down, thunking her water glass on the table.